Combination ignition-lock switch and theft-alarm switch



Oct. 21, 1930. G. A. THORMEYER 1,779,150

COMBINATION IGNITION LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH Filed Aug. 8.1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 21, 1930. G. A. THORMEYER 1,779,150

COMBINATION IGNITION LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH Filed Aug. 8,192 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 21, 1930.

G. A. THORMEYER COMBINATION IGNITION LOCKSWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 8, 1927 1930- e. A. THORMEYER 1,779,150

COMBINATION IGNITION LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH Filed Aug. 8,1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 21, 1930. G. A. THORMEYER 1 1,779,150

COMBINATION IGNITION LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT ALARM SWITCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Aug. 8, 1927' LAD Patented Oct. 21, 1930 UNITED STATES 5T @F'FI CECOMBINATION IGNITION-LOCK SWITCH AND THEFT-ALARM SWITCH Applicationfiled August 8, 1927. Serial No. 211,345.

This invention is intended primarily as a safety lock for automobiles,and, as shown and described, provides locking means for the ignitionsystem and also provides means for sounding an alarm by the continuousblowing of the automobile horn in the event that an unauthorized personattempts to tamper with the combination. Simultaneously with thesounding of the alarm, the hood will be locked, so that no opportunitywill be afforded for cutting the horn wires and stopping the alarm,which can only be stopped by manual readjustment after the hood has beenunlocked by a proper setting of the combination. In this way, anyattempt to tamper with the combination dials will immediately sound acontinuing alarm and direct attention to the unlawful effort to discoverthe true combination, so that the thief will have no opportunity toexperiment with the dials in an effort, by repeated trial, to discoverthe proper combination.

The invention, in the form shown, comprises a set of three dials, eachof which must be set to its proper position to establish the ignitioncircuit, and also to establish a circuit which will unlock the hood. Ifany one of the three dials is maladjusted by a thief or any otherunauthorized person, such inalad ustment will have the immediate effectof tripping off a circuit which controls the horn circuit, so thatthereafter it will be impossible, save by lifting the hood, to open thehorn circuit, and since the unlocking of the hood can only be ehected bythe establishment of the proper dial combination, a thief will have noopportunity, once the alarm is sounded, to proceed systematically in aneffort to establish the true combination.

The invention in its mechanical aspects is re igned in such a way thatit may be readily ed to and incorporated into the dial board of the carin such a way as to prevent ipering with the wire leads which controlsounding of the alarm and the locking he hood, so that the invention asa whole is i which fully meets the requirements of a "ety lock of thecharacter indicated. 1 the drawings:

.s igure 1 is a horizontal section looking upwardly taken adjacent thelower wall of the case containing the combination lock unit, the planeof this section being on line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 2 is vertical section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective showing the spider plate which appearscentrally in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the release cam;

Fig. 6 is an elevation showing the controls which are mounted at thefront of the com 5 bination lock unit;

s a plan view of the contact arm;

a which is side elevation of the conarm shows its relation to theassociated one of which appears in section;

'. 9 is a perspective view of the contact i 10 is a similar view of thestop arm; Fig. 11 is a plan view of the position arm being shown 111center post, the latter is plan view of the under side of board; is avertical section through the no operating unit therefor;

' is a plan view of the upper side ct panel board;

section therethrough taken on 5 of Fig. 14; and .13 a detail in sectiontaken on line 16-16 of Fi t 1 .tion is contained within a h, as shown,comprises a front l a front inner panel 21, an inner partition 22 and arear panel 23 in conjunction h side walls 2d-24, a top wall 25 and asimilar bottom wall, not shown, giv- 'to the container as a whole asubstantially formation. In use, the l be inserted into the dial panel hthe front outer panel exposed, as in F 5, although the mounting of theworking parts can be otherwise arranged, if desired.

ing for a centrally disposed control shaft 26 and three radiallydisposed combination shafts 27, 28 and 29, which are provided on theirfront ends with adjusting knobs 30, 31

and 32, respectively. The control shaft 26 is likewise provided with. acontrol lever 33 terminating ina pointer 34. The combination shafts arealso arovided with pointers arranged dial markings 41, the difierentpositions of which being inscribed with the words Release, Dial set,()n, Hood,or other words ofiappropriatesignification. "Eachof thecombination shafts is provided with a contact arin 42, shown inperspective in Fig. 9,which contact arm terminates in a collar 43rigidly secured to the shaft, which collarfis provided with a pair ofupstanding ears as having perforations e5 for the passage'of circuitwires, presently to be described. The contactarm is further providedwith an inner bore 46 and an outer bore 4C7, which carry contact studsl8 and 4C9, respectively, with the former of which is associated aspring 48 by which this stud is pressed into proper electrical contact.

As shown in Fig. 8, the studs project from each side of the contact arm,and each stud at its. outer end is threaded to receive a nut 50, whicharrangement constitutes a binding p'ostfor the attachment of the circuitwires. Each of the contact arms is shouldered onits inner side at thepoint 51 to provide space Y .for the mounting of a stop lug 52, eachstop lug co-acting with a stop post 53 located in proximate relation tothe combination shaft upon which the associated stop lug is mounted soas to limit the rotation of the shaft.

The upper ends of the contact studs carry laterally projecting arms 54:to which the circuit wires are directly attached, said wires being ledthrough the bores 45 in the ears ii. The contact arm is preferably madeof bakelite or similar insulating material, and the studs 48 and iSofbrass or other con ducting material, sothat the circuits will leadthrough the inner and outer contact studs which are arranged in eachcase to coact with arcuately extending inner and'outer series ofrecesses 55 and 56, respectively,

which are formed in the cross partition 22 which is of insulatingmaterial,

7' The arrangement isv one which permits each of the combination shaftsto be turned to' different positions such as to bring the ejecting innerends of the contact studs register with the inner and outer recesses, asshown in Fig. 14, and after the studs are thus brought into registerwith seselected recesses, the shaft may be pressedinwardly to cause thestuds to enter the registering recesses, which is the adjustmentindicated in Figs. 1 and 8.

The lower end of each of the combination shafts, as shown in Figs. land3, is provided with an enlarged drum shaped head 57 which upstanding armGO-and an inwardly eKtending lug 61 through whichtlie shaft extends topermit its vertical reciprocation. The guide block 59 is also vprovidedon its inner side with an upstanding lug 62 through which is enter-edalatch pin 63 carrying a coil spring 64, the outer end of which issecured to the latch pin and the inner end of which bears'against theface of the lug 62, which.

arrangement tends to exert an outward thrust upon the latch'pin. f r

When the combination shaft is pulled outwardly, the drum shaped head 57will stand in register with the outer end of the latch pin, which willbe held under spring tension, but as soon vasthe combination shaft isthrust inwardly, so that the head clears the end of the pin, the latterwill snap outwardly, as in F ig. 3, and latch the shaft againstretraction. This arrangement is common to all of, the three shafts inthe series. r V

The inner end of. each of the latch pins (see Figs. 2 and 3) is providedwith a slotted head 65 ;which engages a pin66 entered througn a slot 67'in one of the arms of a star wheel 68carried by the centrally disposedcontrolshaft 26 the arrangement being such that when the shaft is turnedin a counterclockwise direction, as in Fig. 2, it.

will simultaneously retract all three of the latch pins and permit thethree shafts to spring outwardly, each under the thrust of a coil spring69, which encircles the shaft and has its outer end entered thereintoand its inner 'end hooked onto a post was 7 spring thus serving both torotationally restore the shafts to the position marked Dial set .inFig.6, and also to longitudinally restore the shaft to the outerposition occupied when released by the latch pins.

The star wheel is loosely mounted upon the control shaft 26, so that thelatter may be turned through predetermined arcof movement withoutimparting rotation to the star wheel, but after such movement has beenexhausted, a release finger 71, (see Fig.

5) which is rigid. with the shaft, is brought into contact with anupstanding lug 72 on one of the arms of the star wheel, so that acontinued "rotation of the shaft will carry around the star wheelthereby drawing back the latch pins and releasing the combinationshafts.

, The control shaft 26 also carries a contact arm 7 3 provided with aspring pressed contact studfe terminating at its upper end inELblIlCllIlg-VPOSt 7 5" whichacontactpostis which thus tends to centerthe parts in the 1 locked.

intended position. As shown in Fig. 1, all of the ingoing wires 90 and114: from the battery and the outgoing wires 78, 80 and 100, all leadthrough a tube 121 in the rear wall of the housing at a point wellbeneath the hood or the car where it will be protected against tamiering" so long as the hood remains In use, it will be observed that anyparticular combination can be established by positioningthe threecontact pins 114, each within a selected onset the ten socket holescomposing each series. Thus a grea" number of different combinations maybe established. In View 01" the fact that the three contact :pins areessential elements in the est-a lishing of a complete circuit, it will,of course, be necessary to correctly position all of the dials before ofthe gaps in the circuit are closed. The closing of this circuit by acor.-

rect setting of the dials will so condition the.

apparatus that the control lever 33 may be 'etlectively employed eitherto unlock the hood, which is accomplished by turning the pointer 34 tothe word Hood, or to close the ignition circuit, which is accomplishedby turning the pointer to the word On.

ln the second or these two adjustments, the control arm 73 carrying thecontact pin '24 will be so set as to bring the pin 7 into register withthe contact 76 which closes the hood lock circuit, and by energizing thesolenoid 79, causes-a retraction of the latch 83 V which permits thehood to be lifted. The first ad ustment of the pointer 34 completes thec rcuit leading to the i nition coil which permits the starting or theengine.

When the pointer 34 is positioned upon the space marked Dial set, theparts will be properly positioned to permit the contact arms L0 be movedto any position required to establish the true combination, the variousparts being indicated by the numerals on the dial panel. A ter one ofthecombination shafts been turned to a selected position, it will bethrust backwardly which causes the contact studs 48 and 49 to enter thealigned socket holes, and if'suchholes constitute one factor in theselected'combination, the setting of the-shaft will close one "ofthegaps in the ignition and hood lock circuit leave the horncircuitunaffected. The ad usted combination shaft will be held back by theengagement of the latch pin 63 with the enlar edhead 57 or the shaft,and similar adjustments can then bemade or the other combinationshafts.v lVhen all are properly adjusted, the engine can be started orthe combination shafts willresult in a closing of one or the branches orthe horn ircuits, any one or which is effective to draw back the pin1020f the'solenoid 101. This trips the switch mechanism which operatesthe horn circuit and continuously closes the horn circuit until theemergency horn circuit is manually opened, which can only be done by alifting of the hood. Since a correctsettim oi the combination isrequired tounl ock tnehoodflt is evident that thehorn will continue tosound until attention is di rooted to the spot. In short, after a singlemaladjustment, the dithculty cannot be corrected, save by a discovery ofthe truecombination with the alarm sounding during the entire interval.l I 7 Although the device has been described as operable to unlock thehood in order to secure access to the horn, which is a con- I venientmethod of preventing tampering with the horn, nevertheless, it isobvious that if the horn were housed otherwise than within the hood, orif some other type of signal or alarm mechanism were employed, the hoodlocking feature might be suitably utilized to'prevent access beingobtained to the. horn or other alarm device howsoever located, the

object and purpose being to prevent a discontinuance of the alarm by thecutting of wires or the disabling ot the alarmap paratus wheresoeverlocated, so that in the claims it'will' be understood that any suitableenclosure for the alarm mechanism which is capable of being locked orotherwise sateguarded is intended'to be lncluded.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the

combina ion of an adjustable member move able'to a plurality ofpositions of adjustment,

a member adjacent said adjustable member and provided with a row ofsocket holes constit'uting an alarm'series and a row of socket holescoiistitutin a lockin series and located a n b :3

in register with the several positions or ad- JUStIIlBIliT of the adustable member, contact points positioned on said adjustable member toregister'witht-he respective rows of socket holes, the adjustable memberbeing mounted to permit depression to cause the respective contactpoints to enter selected pairsof said socket holes in the companionseries of holes, a contact point in each save'one of the socketholes ofthe alarm series and positioned to mg 1 ister with a. contact point onthe adjustable member, and a contact point in one of the socket holes ofthe lock series, being thehole adjacent the blank socket hole of thealarm series. .7 c r V 2. ln a device otthe class described, thecombinat on of an ad ustable member movizs able to a plurality ofpositions of adjustment, a member adjacentsaid adjustable member andprovided with arow of socket holes constituting the alarm series and arow of socket holes constituting the lock ng series and located in reister with the several positions of adjustment oi" the adjustablemember, contact points positioned on said adjustable member to registerwith the respective rows of socket holes, the adjustable member beingmounted to permit depression to cause the respective contact points toenter selected pairs of said socket holes in the companion series ofholes, removable contact points I no in each save one of the socketholes of the alarm series and positioned to register with a contactpoint on lhe adjustable member, and a removable contact point in one ofthe socket holes of the locking series, being the hole adjacent theblank socket hole of the alarm series.

3. In a device of the class described, a rotatable combination armprovided with two contact studs, a member adjacent said arm and providedwith an alarm series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each toreceive a contact stud of the combination arm and further provided witha locking series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each toreceive the other contact stud on the combination arm, a series orcontact points located one within each save one of the socket holes ofthe alarm series, and a single contact point located within that one or"the locking series of socket holes which lies adjacent the unoccupiedsocket hole of the alarm series,

the combination arm being depressible to bring the contact studs intoengagement with the contact points in the socket holes.

4, In a device of the class described, a rotatable combination armprovided with two contact studs, a member adjacent said arm and providedwith an alarm series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each toreceive one contact stud or the combination arm and further providedwith a locking series of arcuately arranged socket holes adapted each toreceive the other contact stud on the combination arm, series ofremovable alarm contact points located one within each save one of thesocket holes of the alarm series, and a single removable contact pointlocated within that one of the locking series of socket holes which liesadjacent the unoccupied socket hole of the alarm series, the combinationarm being devressible to bring the contact studs into engagement withthe contact points in the socket holes.

5. In a device of the class described, a plurality of rotatablecombination arms each provided with two contact studs, a member adjacentsaid arms and provided with a plurality of alarm series of arcuatelyarranged socket holes adapted each to receive one contact stud of acombination arm and further provided with a plurality of locking seriesof arcuate arranged socket holes adapt ed each to receive the othercontact stud on a combination arm, a series of contact points locatedone within each save one of the socket holes of the alarm series, asingle contact p int located within that one of the locking series ofsocket holes which lies adjacent the unoccupied socket hole of the alarmseries, the combination arms being depressible to bring the contactstuds into engagement with the contact points in the socket holes, andan adjustable controlling a m provided with a contact adapted to co-actin closing circuits with the contact studs of the combination arms andalso to be thrown to a nonoperative position.

6. In a device of the class described, a plurality of adjustablecombination arms each provided with two contact studs, afixed memberassociated with said arms and provided with a plurality of alarm seriesof recesses and a plurality of locking series of recesses, said seriesbeing disposed to permit depression of the contact studs'into selectedrecesses in the companion series, a contact point in each save one ofthe recesses of each alarm series, a single contact point in eachlocking series and disposed in that recess which aligns with theunoccupied recess of the associated alarm series, a rotatable shaft foreach combination arm, said shafts being also longitudinally adjustableto cause the contact studs to enter the recesses, latch mechanism foreach of the shafts for holding the same in depressed position, means forsimultaneously withdrawing each of the latches, a rotatable controlshalt upon which said latch withdrawing means is mounted, acontact armcarried by said control shaft and provided with a circuit closingcontact stud, and a pair of contacts positioned to be engaged by thecontact stud on the controlling contact arm in two of its positions ofadjustment.

7. In a device of the class described, a plurality of adjustablecombination arms each provided with two contact studs, a fixed memberassociated with said arms and provided with a plurality of alarm seriesof recesses and a plurality of locking series of recesses, said seriesbeing disposed to permit depression of the contact studs into selectedrecesses in the companion series, contact point in each save one of therecesses of each alarm series, a single contact point in each lockingseries and disposed in that recess which aligns with the unoccupiedrecess of the as sociated alarm series, a rotatable shaft for eachcombination arm, said shafts being also longitudinally adjustable tocause the contact studs to enter the recesses and spring pressed in theopposite direction, latch mechanism for each of the shafts for holdingthe same in depressed position, means for simultaneously withdrawingeach of the latches a rotatable control shaft upon which said latchwithdrawing means is mounted, a contact armcarried by said control shaftand provided with a circuit closing contact stud, and a pair of contactspositioned to be engaged by the contact stud on the control-- lingcontact arm in two of its-positions of adjustment. 7 r

8. In a device of the class described, a m plurality of adjustablecombination arms each provided with two'contact studs, a fixed memberassociated with said arms and provided with a plurality of alarm seriesof recesses and a plurality of locking series of 5 recesses, said seriesbeing disposed to permit depression of the contact studs into se- 7lected recesses in the companion series, a contact point in each saveone of the recesses of each alarm device, a single contact point in eachlocking series and disposed in that recess which aligns with theunoccupied recess of the associated alarm series, a rotat able shaft foreach combination arm, said shafts being also longitudinally adjustableto cause the contact studs to enter :the recesses and spring pressed inthe opposite direction, independently depressible latch mechanism'forueach of the shafts for independently holding the same in depressedposition, me'ans for simultaneously withdrawing each ofthe latches, arotatable control shaft upon which said latch withdrawing meansis'mounted, a contact arm carried by 7 said control shaft and providedwith a circuit closing contact stud, and a pair of contacts positionedto be engaged by the contact stud on the controlling contact arm in twoof its positions of adjustment.

- GEORGE A; THORMEYER.

